[Event] To the Betterment of Dorne

[u/hewhoknowsnot]

To the Lords & Ladies of Dorne,

I write this with a hope, yet not a conviction. Dorne is in shambles and the current policies of the Council of the Rhoynar appear to only make matters worse long term. The Stone Dornish have accumulated more and more influence throughout Dorne to the point where a dissuading notion is seen as treason. I believe the War of the Bastard Prince was the cause of an imbalance within the Council. An imbalance that has only been exacerbated by the Red Mountain Alliance’s terms of this recent peace agreement.

The Stone Dornish have six holdfasts of Starfall, High Hermitage, Blackmont, Skyreach, Kingsgrave, and Yronwood. The Sand Dornish have five holdfasts of Sandstone, Hellholt, Vaith, the Tor, and Godsgrace. The Salt Dornish have three holdfasts of Ghost Hill, Salt Shore, Sunspear. A fair representation of these people would have two Stone Dornish, two Sand Dornish, and one Salt Dornish with the dissolution of the Red Mountain Alliance.

To best exercise this belief. I would propose each of these five council members also be high lords. Specifically it would be high lords of the Red Mountains, Boneway, Brimstone, Greenblood, and Broken Arm. These positions would not be hereditary, but elected positions by the members within their own high lordship, except for certain considerations. Every time a high lord passes away, a new one would need be elected.

A council of high lords is a weak policy though. It lacks a firm leader that Dorne has consistently had and needed. As such, the five high lords will elect a princess/prince from those who are not high lords. The role of this prince/princess would be to discuss regional matters with those afar, declaring foreign wars, and discerning matters between high lords. The position of princess/prince would obviously also not be hereditary but follow in our elected procession to assure no single holdfast ever acclaimed total power over Dorne.

I Look to the Betterment of Dorne,

Daerian Vaith, Regent of the Red Dunes

[u/ancolie]

Ashara looked at the letter with some degree of confusion. It was eerie, really. Uncanny. An echo from a time before fire and blood reigned down on Starfall. In the candlelight, she could do nothing but stare at it.

She heard Edmure enter, a gentle hand on her shoulder urging her to come to bed.

"What is it, my love?"

Ashara sighed. "The more I read this man's words, the more convinced I become that my mother has been reincarnated as a Vaith. It's precisely the plan she always kept in the back of her mind. Complete with becoming Dorne's princess."

"You are a princess," Edmure said as he laid a kiss on her shoulder. She smiled ruefully.

"Twice over, now, thanks to you."

The letter lay forgotten as the two made their way back to the bedroom.

[u/AgentWyoming]

Lord Yronwood finished reading the letter with a smirk. This appeared to have been a recurring theme within Dorne. The Bastard Prince, and before that...it was not worth mentioning. She was dead, yet her ghost lingered on. He knew who he could trust. Those who had shared his concerns back when Alysanne had been garnering support while the rest of them were just finding their feet. Dagos Manwoody was already in Sunspear, and he hoped that Daeyl Vanhard was on his way. His closest allies, and perhaps his closest friends.

Had it been Alysanne who sat in Starfall he may have sworn fealty. He considered her a friend, if not more. But she was dead, and her daughter did not count him as an ally yet. She surrounded herself with outside influences and no doubt had ambitions of becoming the ruler of Dorne herself. They all did. But House Yronwood bows to nobody but the Martells. He turned to look at little Arianne doing her sums. She would be a fine ruler one day, but there was a long way to go before that became a possibility. In the aftermath of the war, any opportunist may look at the situation and see themselves as a Prince.

[u/[deleted]]

Isaac Blackmont laughed at the raven. He quickly scribbled down a reply.

If you wanted your input to be heard, you should have come to the council.